Ramseur man gets new room

Tuesday

RAMSEUR — Joshua Wright of Ramseur was paralyzed from the chest down in a swimming accident in the summer of 2005, when he was 16 years old.

RAMSEUR — Joshua Wright of Ramseur was paralyzed from the chest down in a swimming accident in the summer of 2005, when he was 16 years old.

Prior to his accident, Wright was a typical teenager who enjoyed riding 4-wheelers and dirt bikes. Today, he gets around via an electric wheelchair, but he still loves the outdoors.

For the last two years, Wright has been going deer hunting, bringing home venison to help fill his family’s pantry. The experience has been, thanks in part to the nonprofit organization, Back in the Woods Again.

Founded by Tommy Estridge and former world champion bull rider Jerome Davis, the organization provides disabled sportsmen and women a chance to go hunting, despite any disability they might have

Recently, Back in the Woods decided to help Wright in a big way. He and his mom Lisa (his stepfather, Darin Edwards passed away in November 2015 after battling cancer) live in a single-wide mobile home in Ramseur, a space that does not give Wright much room to maneuver his wheelchair. His bedroom is — in a word — tiny.

All of that is about to change.

Back in the Woods is building Wright a new room, a space to make life in a wheelchair a little bit easier. The room, 24 feet by 24 feet in size, is being added to the end of the family mobile home — a room that will include a bathroom with a roll-in shower for Josh and a built-in lift that will carry Wright from his wheelchair to his bed and other places in the room. The addition will be easily accessed through his old bedroom, which will be transformed into a walk-in closet.

"No one will have to pick me up anymore," he said. "It (the lift) picks me up from my wheelchair and carries me to the bed or where I need to go in the room."

The addition will also feature a large front deck and a ramp for Wright to get in and out of the room more easily.

"I know that Back in the Woods helps its hunters out, but I didn’t have a clue that they were going to do this," he added. "Right before the hunting season started last year, I found out about the project, but didn’t know it would be this big. The room will be triple the size of my old room."

Todd Brown is the contractor for the project and has been involved with Back in the Woods since its inception in late 2011.

"For the last few years, we have took on projects with leftover funds we have had donated," he said. "This year we picked Josh because he was in need of a bigger room, someplace to make his life better and to help his mom."

Brown said that the construction work has been done by 12-15 volunteers and most of the materials have been donated or at cost.

"A lot of people have donated their time. We hope to get it finished within the next four weeks."

Brown added that they are still in need of a heating system or funds to purchase one for Wright’s new room. Brown is also looking for an automatic door opener.

"We want it in order for Josh to be able to open the door on his own and to make it as easy as possible for him to get in and out of the room."

A recent post by Wright on his Facebook page speaks volumes to what the project means to him and his mom.

"For those that don’t know, there’s a great hunting organization that helps disabled people have an opportunity to hunt for no cost to the hunter. I found out that they decided that they were going to build me a new room that will make things so much easier for me & my mom. Everyone that is helping (is) volunteering their time and are getting paid absolutely nothing. What these people are doing is so much of a testimony of how there is still really good people in this world that do things not expecting something in return.

"I really greatly appreciate what these people are doing!"

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* Any donations to the Joshua Wright project are tax-deductible. For more information or to make a donation of materials or funds, contact Tommy Estridge at (336) 581-6299.

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